


fate somehow brings me hope inside my heart

by Glove23



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Challenge fic, First Dance, Fluff, M/M, Soulmate AU, We love a good soulmate au, asheiji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23721961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glove23/pseuds/Glove23
Summary: Ash doesn't believe in soulmates. Meeting Eiji didn't change that.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 15
Kudos: 233





	fate somehow brings me hope inside my heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



> Hello hello hello here we are with this wonderful Banana Fish fic. This is part of a challenge @Val_creative and I are doing, and they gave me this idea! Who doesn't love a good soulmate AU? So this is dedicated to Rie bc they are wonderful and we're both just. obsessed with these two. Make sure to go check out their fic for this challenge on their account!!

* * *

He never knew what it meant. His soulmark. The kanji characters in stark black on his collarbone. And it was hard to google translate words that are directly on your skin. 

At the age of 18, Ash no longer cared. 

Everyone knew about soulmates, and so many people let the name on their wrist, their back, their neck, rule their entire lives. Obsessing, searching out that one person who the universe deemed them most compatible with. 

Fuck the universe. 

When Ash met Eiji, soulmates could not be further from his mind.

All he could think about was him. His black fluffy hair, and the dopey expressions he made when literally anything interesting happened. From the moment Ash laid eyes on him, it was...different. He felt different about him than he did about anyone else.

Eiji. 

His name resonated in his chest, and Ash didn’t know what to make of it. 

“You ever had one of these before?” 

Ash’s face was alive with mirth as he handed the mustard covered hot dog to Eiji, watching his face crinkle with disgust. 

“No. Do I have to?” Eiji held the hot dog away from his body like it might bite. 

Ash laughed and took a large bite of his own hot dog. “It won’t kill you, just try it.” 

“Ash-“

“Eiji.” 

Eiji sighed and brought the hot dog to his mouth. He took a deep breath and practically inhaled the mustard. He shuddered and took a bite, and regretted it. God the mustard was so strong.

Ash broke down laughing and Eiji glared. “It’s not funny, Ash.” 

“You didn’t see your face, it was very funny. You’re cute when you find American food disgusting.” 

Eiji fought off his blush, and was only moderately successful, judging from the sly look on Ash’s face. 

“Can we go back to the apartment now?” Eiji chucked his hot dog into a trashcan and started walking, Ash chuckling behind him. 

*

They hadn’t been living here long. A few days maybe. But it felt like a lifetime. 

Everything seemed to slow down when he was around Eiji. Every moment felt important and memorable. It felt like they had known each other for their entire lives, like it was….meant to be.

Ash looked at himself in the mirror and pulled the collar of his shirt down, staring at the Kanji printed on his skin. 

No.

There was no way.

He shook himself and straightened his shirt. Best not think about it. He’d had enough disappointment in his life, and he liked Eiji. He didn’t want to screw it up by bringing something ridiculous like soulmates into the equation. He didn’t even know if Eiji had the soulmate gene, and he wasn’t going to ask.

Ash would savor every moment he could, before Eiji was taken away from him. Just like everyone else. 

Exiting the bathroom, he found Eiji sticking his phone into a tall glass cup. The other man nodded in satisfaction before pulling it out, pressing something on the screen, and putting it back in. Music suddenly echoed out of the cup and into the apartment, doubling the sound the phone speakers put out. Eiji smiled and started lightly swaying. 

He turned and caught Ash staring. His cheeks pinked, but he grinned and motioned Ash over. 

Ash pushed off the wall and made his way to him. Eiji grabbed his hands and started swinging them back and forth.

“Dance with me!” He said, pitching his voice louder to be heard over the music. Ash started to shake his head, but Eiji looked at him pleadingly, and he caved.

“Alright, alright.” 

The song changed to something peppy and upbeat, and Eiji yelled, jumping up and down. Their dancing was unrefined, and mostly just consisted of bouncing around the room and moving their arms. But they kept hold of each other. Ash didn’t dare let go. 

They laughed and danced. Ash spun Eiji around and around the apartment and by the time the playlist stopped, they were breathless. Eiji was laughing as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sweatshirt. The sleeve rode up his arm, and Ash saw something on his wrist.

“Eiji do you have a tattoo?? And you didn’t tell me?” Ash exclaimed, reaching for the offending arm. Eiji quickly clapped his other hand down on the spot, eyes slightly wild.

“N-no, I don’t have a tattoo!” 

Ash just stared at him, before a light-bulb went off in his head. 

“Oh. You have a soulmate.” 

He didn’t think he would be able to describe the sinking feeling in his stomach if anyone had asked. Not that Ash actually put any stock into soulmates himself, but he didn’t know Eiji’s take on it. For all he knew he was a die-hard, ‘I’m looking for my soulmate and I won’t rest until I find them’ kind of person. 

The music had stopped, and everything was quiet. Eiji looked at a loss for words, and Ash nodded. 

“Okay.”

He turned and started toward their room. He didn’t know what he was feeling but it was something, and Ash knew he wanted to be alone for that.

Suddenly, Eiji cried out.

“I don’t even know who they are!” His voice was desperate, and Ash paused. “I’ve never met them, and after meeting you, I know I don’t want to.” 

“Eiji…”

“Ash, no, please listen. I thought when I was younger that soulmates were the be all, end all. But ever since meeting you...The name on my wrist hasn’t even entered my mind.” Eiji walked toward him, and took his hand, turning him around. “Ash…”

He looked at Eiji and took a deep breath. He shifted so he was more fully facing him, and as he opened his mouth to speak, Eiji cut him off.

“What is that?”

His eyes were glued to Ash’s collarbone, where his shirt had shifted to the side and part of his soulmark was exposed. Ash hastily fixed his shirt, but Eiji reached out and gently pushed it back. He huffed out a disbelieving laugh.

“What?” Ash was confused, as Eiji’s laughter only got louder. “What is going on?” 

Eiji looked borderline hysterical when he met Ash’s eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on!” He choked out through his laughter. 

Ash was fed up with this, and grabbed Eiji’s arm, pushing his sleeve up. Baring his soulmark to the world.

**_Aslan_ **.

All the breath left Ash’s body as he looked at his own name marked on Eiji’s arm. 

“Ash… I’m sorry I didn’t know this could happen. It doesn’t matter to me anyways, I don’t know them, but I know you and I don’t want to leave you.” Eiji was babbling. “I didn’t know I could be someone’s soulmate but them not be mine that seems a little messed up but-”

“Eiji.”

He stopped and looked up at Ash who had the widest eyes Eiji had ever seen. 

“This is...my name.” His voice was quieter than it had been in a long time, and he watched emotion after emotion flit across Eiji’s face.

“I don’t understand? Your name is Ash.” Eiji asked, confused.

“The name my mother gave me is Aslan. My name is Aslan.” 

Eiji looked down at the name on his wrist and back up at Ash, as if comparing the two together to see if the puzzle pieces fit. 

His eyes started to well with tears.

“I thought-”

“You’re my soulmate? You can read this?” Ash pulled the collar of his shirt back even farther, and Eiji’s gaze was once again drawn to the mark.

Slowly he nodded, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. “It’s Kanji, that is...my name. Eiji.” 

Ash reached up and cupped his face, brushing away his tears with his thumb. Eiji instinctively leaned his head into Ash’s hand.

“You’re my soulmate.” Ash whispered. “I never thought...I had given up on soulmates a long time ago. It stopped meaning anything to me. How are two people who have never met, destined to be together? I thought it was fairytale nonsense.

“And when I met you, I decided it must be true. Soulmates can’t be anything worthwhile, because if you existed and were in my life, and I didn’t think you were my soulmate.” Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but Eiji started talking.

“I’ve always believed in soulmates. Ever since I was a little kid. My parents are soulmates, and I suppose that fueled it some. But then that day in the bar I met you. The way you acted and what you did….I couldn’t get you out of my head. Ash Lynx. Soulmates stopped mattering because I…” Eiji squeezed Ash’s hand until he opened his eyes. Eiji looked at him and smiled. “Because I fell in love with you, Ash.”

Ash gripped Eiji’s hand right back as tears started to fall down his face. 

“How could this person who I had never met ever mean as much to me as you do?” Eiji shook his head and stepped closer. “It wasn’t a hard decision to make, really. I chose you.” 

Ash wasn’t going to let go of Eiji’s hands. There was nothing anyone could do in that moment to make him let go. As the other man stepped closer Ash took another deep, shuddering breath, pressing his forehead against Eiji’s. 

“I love you too.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment, tell me what you think!


End file.
